The 36-year-old is currently qualifying as a firefighter where, like racing, there’s great camaraderie and banter. He still loves to watch racing

What was the best moment of your riding career?
A horse called Naughty Thoughts gave me my 200th winner at Lingfield in 2008
and it was a great moment. By that stage of my career, the rides were
starting to dry up. But I wasn’t going to pack up on 199, even if I had to
ride for another 10 years. I won by a short head from Paul Doe, with Hayley
Turner close in third. It was a grand day and I was given a lovely reception
coming back in to the winners’ enclosure.

My last ride was also special. The trainer Tom Dascombe told me six weeks
before the race that if I’d have one last ride on Desert Dreamer, also at
Lingfield, he would give me a winner. He was true to his word and so my last
ride was a winner. My strike rate for 2009